PCB Set For Major Overhaul And New Player Code Of Conduct After T20 World Cup Campaign

Pakistan's dismal T20 World Cup performance in the USA is expected to prompt significant changes within the country's cricket board. Criticism has arisen over players bringing their families along and participating in paid promotional events during the tournament.

A source within the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) revealed that Chairman Mohsin Naqvi is furious with some senior officials, blaming them for the team's indiscipline, which led to their early exit from the league stage.

"You can expect the PCB to lose senior management level officials and also enforce some strict policies for the players in future," the source said. He mentioned that a policy decision preventing players from bringing their families to ICC and other major events might soon be announced as part of the PCB's clean-up operation.

A report in 'Jang' newspaper disclosed that some Pakistani players accepted appearance fees as low as USD 2500 per person to attend a meet-and-greet function in Dallas. Another event, 'A night with stars,' was cancelled due to payment disputes between captain Babar Azam and other players.

These revelations will be scrutinised during the postmortem of the league-stage exit, following losses to debutants USA and rivals India. The board has had four chairmen since December 2022, but no senior management officials have been replaced or terminated.

The source added, "It is now becoming clear that if the players are today an indisciplined and careless lot, the blame for this falls on some of the senior management officials who have been patronising them in many ways including in the finalisation of the central contracts last year."

The source stated that Chairman Naqvi was displeased with many players bringing not only their wives and children but also parents and siblings to the World Cup. Inquiries revealed that some senior board officials permitted this.

"Some of these officials are not professionals but fans of the players and have given them lot of concessions which eventually led to the World Cup debacle," said the source. The PCB chief has now requested a performance assessment report from all senior management level officials due to dissatisfaction with preparations for next year's ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan.

Adding to the turmoil is speculation about internal team conflicts, particularly between Babar Azam and pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi over captaincy issues.

The PCB's forthcoming decisions aim to address these concerns and restore discipline within the team. The board's actions will be closely watched as they attempt to rectify past mistakes and improve future performances.